From Beneath The Chair

For those who wonder what happened. Sunday night I picked Zilla up to trim her claws. Her breathing went nuts, she was panting heavily. She calmed after a while, but I took her in to see the vet Monday morning. She has never liked this, but she was panicked and wouldn't calm down. The vet couldn't even count her heart rate it was so fast. Over 300 beats per minute. The panting was because she was trying to get oxygen into her blood. Blood work was to be done and an xray as he was concerned about cardiomyopathy.

With the open mouthed breathing, she couldn't be muzzled as usual to be handled, so it was decided she would receive mild sedation for the xray. I went into this knowing the risk, but also knowing I had to have answers to treat her properly. Acepromezine was given and she was fine, but when they tried to take her out, she went into panic mode again. They decided to give just a bit more as her panicking was putting so much stress on her. The tech told me about two seconds after the second dose, she was gone. That quickly. Dr Wylie worked for about 10 minutes trying to get her back, but with her already in the state she was, there was nothing that could be done.

She was a spit fire to the very end, fighting not to let anyone touch her, as usual. She was anti-social and wicked mean with those claws. In over 11 years, my mother only saw her twice and when we went to say goodbye, that was the first time my sister and nephew really got to pet her when I wasn't holding her still. The tech that took care of her, Louie, was crying too. I already knew he has a black cat of his own and had a particular love for them. I know they did all they could for her.

I don't know when I'll get her back. Midlands Pet Care is picking her up Tuesday. I picked a small black marble urn with white streaks. It'll match her fur since she was getting little white hairs popping up all over.

I express my deepest thanks to Wateree Animal Hospital in Camden, SC for the care they gave my girl. I know they did all they could to save my little girl.